CANNABIS CONFUSION

Sir, An anonymous letter writer says his son is addicted to cannabis
(letter, 27 October). Has it not occurred to him that his son is addicted
not to cannabis but to the tobacco he uses to make his joints (or possibly
to the ritual of making them)? Because cannabis is illegal in the UK
joints cannot be bought ready-made and it is imported mainly in its
concentrated form as resin (hash) which, to be smoked, must be mixed with
tobacco unless it is smoked in a specially designed pipe (chillum).

If cannabis were legalised, it could be grown here or imported as grass,
which does not need to be diluted with tobacco. I am not myself a user,
but I have been told that grass has the added advantage of being "softer"
in its effects.

Maurice Jay
London NW11